shadow

Shaken was no longer willing to think about the person's thinking process. He numbly followed him underground, taking things out of his pocket as he walked. The blond young man pressed the switch twice, and a small buzzing sound rang out in his palm. A mechanical insect emitting bright light flew up, providing a stable light source.

The convenience brought by high technology was clearly evident at this moment. Wherever the light went, there was powdered tiny insect corpses. Occasionally, some intact insects were crushed by the soles of their shoes. In the distance, the sound of insects crawling approached quietly, passing through the powdered insects and continuing to move towards the cave exit.

"Don't tell me your plan was to just charge right through."

"Why not?"

Oreius drew out the long sword wrapped with scarlet thorns, and the shadow under his feet expanded in all directions, with faint dark patterns.

The child slowly stood up from the shadow. This place was like a fish in water for it. All the insects that entered the shadow were devoured. Shaken stared at the shadow puppet that was supposed to obey him with envy and whispered: "If I hadn't raised it well before..."

The red-haired young man squinted at him and said, "Are you going to stand there and watch?"

Who do you think made me stand here and watch? Shaken was speechless. His shadow was also trembling slightly. The slender black shadow crawled towards the insect swarm, deliberately avoiding the shadow man. The latter lowered his head, and for some reason, a bit of greed could be seen on his faceless face.

"These are my last stocks. If they are all eaten, let me go in with you. I will die in front of you."

Shaken warned calmly. Oreius blinked and said, "Do I look so inhumane? Don't worry, I will definitely let you leave the same way you came in."

He spoke frivolously, and stabbed the remaining insect swarm that was not swallowed by the shadow with his long sword, causing a piece of shiny insect shell to explode. The red-haired young man walked forward, and Shaken followed closely behind. When encountering a large-scale insect swarm, they used firepower to clear the way, supplemented by the attacks of the shadow puppets, so the journey was relatively peaceful.

The underground passage was winding and narrow, with many signs of gnawed food on the walls. The mechanical insects flying overhead were glowing, and the scene was like entering a dwarf's castle.

Unfortunately, there was no wonderful underground world ahead, only insects that kept coming one after another. Their number had occupied every inch of space above and below his head, and the tunnel originally made of soil and stone was gradually covered with a translucent shell that refracted light, so that Oreius had to put away his [Aesthetics], worried that the aftershocks of the bullets would collapse the insect shells piled up above his head.

He looked around for a while and said, "It's not normal. A lot of the insects here must have died. Otherwise, the grass wouldn't be so thick."

He raised his long sword and thrust it at the wall, the blade easily penetrating halfway. Oleus twisted the hilt of the sword, shaving off the wall of insect shell as completely and gently as possible. Behind the shining insect shell, the dark steel covered with scars could be vaguely seen.

Oreius dismantled another part, and Shaken came over to take a look. He raised his eyebrows and waved to the mechanical insect. The automatic sensing device sensed the owner's need and immediately drove the machine to land in the palm of the blond man.

"Test to see if this is equipment from the Mechanical City?"

In response to the verbal command, the mechanical bug flew into the empty slot, landed on the metal and began scanning. The wings on its back kept opening and closing, making a monotonous and tiny golden electronic sound.

"Ding Ding - Mission confirmed, [Light Bug] expands the link."

"Scanning... Model confirmed. The object of the scan is the 12th generation D-class defensive beast machine of the Mechanical City, and the object of the imitation is the [Steel Tail Giant Snake]. The current state is damaged. Please contact the relevant personnel for recycling in time. Repeat again, please contact the relevant personnel for recycling in time. The Mechanical City thanks you for your contribution to the cause of mankind's resistance to the black fog..."

"It's something from the Mechanical City. Beast machines designed for combat are indeed capable of causing this kind of damage. Unfortunately, the [Steel Tail Giant Snake] is mainly used to deal with medium and large polluted beasts head-on, and it is not capable of dealing with these small things."

Shaken shook his head regretfully. "We can only contact the Mechanical City to recycle it later. They are quite generous and should be able to exchange something for it, but the most important thing is friendship."

Oreius listened to him, staring at the mechanical bug without blinking. Shaken immediately became alert: "You don't want this too. This is specially made for our family. You can only take it as a subordinate. Besides, this little mechanical beast is not worth much money. Why don't you buy one yourself?"

The former was silent for a moment: "How much?"

Shakentun didn't care: "It's not expensive. Three thousand robis can buy a light bug. It has no fighting ability. If it is converted to this [Steel Tail Giant Snake], even if it is only a D-rank guard beast, it will cost more than 50,000 robis."

It is known that the monthly salary of an average family in Ya'an City is 60 rubles... Well, there is no need to calculate the rest! Oreus completed the careful plan in a flash, and before Shaken could react, the other party's hand pressed on the back of his hand.

The blond man had a hint of confusion in his eyes. The kidnapper held down the back of his hand and said, "I really want it!"

Shaken: "......"

He used some force to try to pull his hand out, but failed. He used more force, but Orelius remained motionless. After repeated attempts without success, Shaken rolled his eyes, dragged him forward with big strides, and looked disgusted.

"I'll lend it to you, okay? You're such a loser. You look so poor and yet you pretend to be our family's ancestor? If people tell others about it, it will make people laugh."

"Light Bug, add a second-order operator, confirm the target is Oreius."

Oleus withdrew his hand with satisfaction. The mechanical insect's eyes lit up and fell on the back of his hand. The red-haired young man suddenly felt a slight stinging pain and his expression froze: "Wait--"

"Blood information confirmed, contact established. Pollution level, drip, pollution level cannot be confirmed... Human? Pollution? Human? Pollution?"

It was too late. The blood was spreading along the metal, and it was almost impossible to see in the dim space. The mechanical insects kept reporting errors, and the chaotic electronic sounds stopped abruptly. Shaken walked over in surprise: "Broken? No, the creations of the Mechanical City are not so fragile."

As soon as he finished speaking, the mechanical bug flew up with a snap, and circled around the red-haired man affectionately like a dog seeing a bone. The inorganic electronic voice could be heard to be cheerful: "We have confirmed that you are a first-order operator, Mr. Oreius, thank you for your use!"

Shaken: “……???”

I knew it, how could such an advanced robot verify its identity through blood? Even its pupils are fine. The red-haired young man was silent for a moment, then turned to the blond young man who was doubting his life, and said sincerely: "I didn't start it first."

"This is not a question of whether or not to take action. This is a question of how impossible it is for you to become a First Sequence! Without our family bloodline...Dengchong, you are not really going to make a mistake in the second authentication, are you?"

The blond man's face was as black as ebony, and the mechanical insect thread did not move, still circling around Oreius affectionately. He almost wanted to kill the insect. However, he waited for the other party to repeat the order before flying back to Shaken and collecting blood for the second time.

"Blood information confirmed, contact established. Welcome, first-order operator, Mr. Shaken."

"So what is your order of access now?"

"Two first-order users have been bound. First-order user: Oreus; second-order user: Shaken."

So I am still the second one?

For the first time in his life, Shaken doubted his ears. In the face of the blond man's incredulous expression, Oreius patted his shoulder and asked tentatively: "How about we go first?"

The blond man's expression changed constantly. He followed the other man and took two steps deeper into the tunnel. He suddenly said, "I don't believe it!"

He stared at the back of the young man in front of him with burning eyes: "After completing this mission, you will come with me to do a test to confirm your bloodline."

The red-haired young man hesitated to speak, pretending not to hear, and continued to walk forward without looking away. Shaken chased after him and lowered his voice: "Did you hear that?"

"I heard it, but do we have to discuss this matter in this environment and atmosphere?"

Aurelius sighed helplessly and pointed ahead: "Don't you think that some guests are observing our family ethics drama?"

"You have no idea what this means—tsk."

The rustling sound of crawling interrupted Shaken's next words, and the latter frowned and looked unhappy. The arrogant nature in his bones broke out again, but Shaken barely suppressed it because of the inappropriate scene.

The two had just emerged from a small path. The darkness outside the light was still thick, and only a small flat area could be seen. The sound of tentacles stepping on insect shells was clear, but there were no suspicious traces.

The red-haired young man cut his wrist, blood trickling down the blade. He stared at the darkness that seemed to be solid, and said in a low voice: "Can it be brighter?"

The mechanical insect responded by opening the metal plates on its abdomen to the sides, exposing two-thirds of its transparent hindquarters to the air, emitting a dazzling light. Under the light, the rustling sound became more and more frequent. With the excellent vision of the bloodline, Shaken squinted his eyes slightly and finally found the clue.

It was a thin, translucent limb that stepped on the edge of light and darkness. If it weren't for the slight refraction caused by the strong light, even he would have ignored it. Shaken straightened his lips and suddenly became alert. The thin shadow under his feet rushed forward and merged into the darkness.

His azure eyes grew darker, and his perception of the shadow puppets continued to expand, turning the night into a playground for play. The wandering shadows moved across the ground, regarding the darkness as nothing, and no creature could sense their cold breath.

The most dangerous assassin, the most ruthless killer. Any careless mistake can take your life, and anyone will live in fear of the shadow lurking around.

But as the master who drives this group of deadly poisonous snakes, Shaken's heart tightened a little when he saw the scene clearly through the vision of the shadow puppet.

The underground roads that extended in all directions all led to a huge open space, and they were at one of the exits. In front of the humans stood translucent spiders that blended into the darkness.

The upper body is human, the lower body is spider, and there are eight deformed arms on the back, which perfectly blends into the environment. An endless stream of small spiders are crawling out of the sacs they are dragging on the ground and crawling towards the two people. Eight eyes in the darkness are looking in the direction of humans without blinking, and the number is too numerous to count. On the ground, on the wall, and even hanging upside down from the ceiling...

Behind these monsters are translucent silk cocoons that are as tall as a person. In each cocoon is a comatose human, many of whom have already begun to transform into monsters. Some have grown deformed limbs, and some have grown extra arms. Among all the cocoons, one is particularly tall and eye-catching. Wrapped in it is a comatose girl with blond hair, whose petite and delicate face is unforgettable.

...I told you to send people out, not to send them into the enemy's lair?

Shaken felt dizzy for a while, and after searching for a while, he found a middle-aged man and a child who were also unconscious in the cocoon. Fortunately, these fresh materials seemed to have not been used yet, and there was no parasite or mutation on them. Or perhaps, the intruder who just broke in interrupted the original plan of these insects, causing them to turn their attention to the newcomer.

The blond man withdrew his perception, his throat was astringent, and he said dryly: "I have a suggestion, do you want to hear it?"

The person standing next to him seemed to have noticed something: "What suggestions?"

Shaken said, "You are going to do a blood test with me now. If I don't find out what's wrong with you, I won't be able to rest in peace even after I die."

The holy sword was soaked in blood, adding a bit of sharpness. Oleus pointed the sword forward and asked as he heard the footsteps approaching slowly, "Are you serious?"

"It's fake, but I really need you to return the Shadow Puppet to me, and then go with me to do a blood test after completing the mission."

Under the strong pressure, Shaken finally stopped hiding his strength. His body was like a pool of sun-melted cream, quickly blending into the shadows on the ground and sliding towards the shadow man.

With Oreius's tacit consent, the shadow man who was originally full of hostility actually accepted his fusion, and the shadows of both sides overlapped, and even the light shining on the surface was swallowed by the black. Then, all the places where there were shadows were like the undulating surface of the water, and a pair of thin hands stretched out from the undulating shadows and wrapped around the neck of the human spider.

“Click, click, click.”

The sound of bamboo breaking continued.